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Article
Fallacious Argumentation in Student Reasoning: Are There Benefits?
European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education (2014)
  • Mary Mueller, Seton Hall University
  • Dina Yankelewitz, Mercy College - Main Campus
Abstract
This article reports on an analysis of episodes of invalid or controversial arguments that occurred while two different groups of students worked on similar fraction tasks and examine the role that these types of arguments played in the development of students' reasoning. One group consisted of suburban, middle-class, fourth graders who worked on these tasks during the regular school day. The other group was comprised of sixth-graders from an urban community working on similar tasks as part of an informal learning after-school project. The findings of this study indicate that allowing students to share and discuss incorrect arguments promoted rich mathematical discourse and argumentation. The invalid arguments triggered the use of varied reasoning by other students and cleared up previous [mis]understandings.
Keywords
  • Mathematical Reasoning,
  • Argumentation,
  • Misconceptions,
  • Collaboration,
  • Discourse
Disciplines
Publication Date
2014
DOI
10.30935/scimath/9398
Citation Information
Mary Mueller and Dina Yankelewitz. "Fallacious Argumentation in Student Reasoning: Are There Benefits?" European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education Vol. 2 Iss. 1 (2014) p. 27 - 38 ISSN: 2301-251X
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mary-mueller2/3/
Creative Commons license
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY International License.